Personal hygiene and its importance in medical health are constantly evolving. Knowing its role of stopping diseases and improving health it should be our role as people to find ways to make personal hygiene easier and less time consuming. Thousands of years ago the ancient Egyptians who, who showed a concern for personal hygiene, went as far as installing public bathing facilities in the tombs of the dead so they may start their next life off with proper hygiene. The ancient Greeks installed hot and cold water systems for bathing in their homes and bath houses and incorporated pumice stones, for scrubbing their bodies, into their hygienic routine. The tradition of maintain proper hygiene was continued by the Roman Empire, which was famous for the construction of many state-of-the-art public bathing facilities that dotted its vast Mediterranean empire.
In the modern era we place a premium on personal hygiene; teaching our children from an early age the importance of cleanliness. The modern emphasis on personal hygiene is pure and simple: Good personal hygiene kills germs and bacteria and helps prevent illness and the spread of disease.
The annals of history are full of examples of times when humans neglected personal hygiene, like the Black Death, which struck the medieval world with devastating consequences. Even today there are societies that do not have access to clean water supplies for bathing, showering, and oral hygiene and the presence of disease, tooth decay, and other associated health problems are rampant.
Water is required to conduct many forms of personal hygiene and is the most important nutrient and the most abundant substance in the human body. Water comprises about three quarters of the human mass and is a major component in every cell. Clean water is important to human health for many reasons. It's needed for energy in body as the ions help for electrical pathways for nerve functions. Water is needed to maintain everything in the body; it plays a part in physical and mental functions, and helps the body remove toxins. Water is a must for personal hygiene and the maintenance of all bodily functions.
A key part of personal hygiene is teeth cleaning. When trying to maintain a healthy smile and fresh breath regular preventative oral hygiene is pivotal. Without proper care, the teeth can decay quickly causing many health complications for the patient. Even though preventing cavities is a relatively simple process, it is still something many people struggle with.
To help prevent oral problems the most powerful tool is regularly brushing your teeth to remove dangerous plaque and food particles that damage the gums and teeth. Flossing is also important as it helps maintain healthy gums and it should be done at least once a day, where brushing should be done twice a day. There are currently two types of flossing. The first, and most widely used is the practice of using a small piece of string between the teeth, removing small particles of food and tarter that cannot be reached by a toothbrush. The other method of flossing is water flossing, where a device provides a water stream to clean around the teeth, removing small particles of food, biofilm, and tarter that cannot be reached by a typical toothbrush.
If a person isn't practicing good oral hygiene then they are opening the door to potentially dangerous oral problems that require invasive surgeries, medications, loss of teeth, and constant pain. Severe gum disease causes over one-third of adult tooth loss. Tooth decay is the most common disease on the planet. Over eighty percent of cavities occur inside pits and fissures on the chewing surfaces where brushing cannot reach food that is trapped after eating and the person's saliva or fluoride has no access to neutralize the acid and remineralize demineralized teeth, unlike the easy-to-reach surfaces, where the fewer cavities occur.
Once a person is diagnosed with an oral disease there are treatment options that should be considered and acted upon. Because every person is different and their disease symptoms may vary, the type of treatments can differ as well. There are four surgical treatment procedures that can be performed, to help the patient but it would be economically beneficial and healthier to just avoid developing the need for such procedures in the first place. Proactive care is the best course of action, as taking care of your teeth now will prevent dental problems in the future.
The use of string or water floss is an important element of oral hygiene since it removes plaque and decaying food stuck between teeth. This food decay and plaque cause irritation to the gums, causing, among other problems, bleeding gums. Acidic foods left on the teeth can also demineralize them and eventually causing cavities. The number of times a person flosses has been directly correlated to the development of cancer or stroke making it highly important to care for one's oral hygiene. The reason for this however is largely to do with a person's immune system. If bacteria are present in a person's mouth then their immune system will be constantly battling it to prevent further health problems. When an immune system is being taxed it elevates one's blood pressure allowing viruses a window of opportunity to attack and succeed. The mouth is the primary place where this is a problem because it is a warm and moist environment which is perfect for the spread of bacteria and due to the fact that the mouth offers a direct passage to the stomach through which bacteria and germs can pass through into the bloodstream. In short, should someone have a bad type of bacteria in their mouth it can easily travel into the stomach and result in a full blown illness that affects more than the mouth. Another reason that the oral cavity is a particularly vulnerable area is due to the range of things that are put into it. For example we lick our fingers after touching things, we wipe our mouths, and we eat food that is perhaps no longer that good for consumption.
Personal oral hygiene is important for other people's health as well as our own. When we cough or sneeze we broadcast the bacteria and germs in our mouths into the air and surrounding surfaces where others come into contact with them. While keeping a hand in front of one's mouth will help prevent the dispersion of bacteria from a cough or sneeze, it's better to avoid any bad bacteria in the mouth in the first place.
Unfortunately, keeping on top of oral hygiene is not a high priority for some, especially when it comes to flossing regularly. A major reason why many people do not floss is because they dislike the string floss because it is awkward, messy, or just difficult. There are however, alternatives to string flossing. You can floss with an electrical or battery powered water flossing device, but that too has some disadvantages.
Some of the disadvantages to the battery and electrical water flossing device include the fact that they take up on space on countertops so if a person does not have the counter space available the device has to be stored and taken out each time for usage, the devices collect dust, limited water supply, the reservoir has to be cleaned after use as it harbors mold and mildew, batteries have to be charged or replaced and are expensive, they have a very limited pressure because of the limited reservoir pumps break, pumps and lines hold water that is considered unclean, bathrooms can turn into a big mess because of splashing water that bounces back off teeth ends up all over the countertop and mirror, cords get tangled, water supply hose can get kinked, floors gets wet, tubes and hoses need to be replaced often, and can seals can leak.
Water flossing devices are an easier and more effective way to floss only having to be done once a day for approximately one minute. In a recent clinical study it was found that adding water flossing to a normal tooth brushing was fifty percent more effective method at cleaning teeth than string flossing was and that water flossing improved gum health eighty percent better than air flossing. A similar study looked at adolescents with fixed orthodontic equipment and showed that a water flossing devices with a special tip designed for orthodontics was 3.8 times more effective at removing plaque than string flossing and 5.8 times more effective than just a normal brushing routine.
A multi-purpose shower head with an oral dental water flossing devices will make it easier to floss with fewer steps and help promote better oral hygiene hereby improving one's health. Water flossing can also benefit some who struggle with dexterity challenges such as arthritis or muscular dystrophy. It can help promote children's health especially those who are unable to understand the proper way to string floss. The multi-purpose showerhead with a water flossing devices is a great improvement over other water flossing devices because there is no reservoir to refill, the water stream is continuous, and the water temperature can be adjusted without dumping the reservoir. The multi-purpose showerhead with its multi-functional hygienic water tools has been invented for cleaning the mouth and ears with precise water pressure that can be controlled via different attachments for comfort and various cleaning needs.
This new showerhead with its multifunction hygienic water tools has another added feature, it is a hand mounted shower unit that can be set in a cradle and allows it to act like a fixed showerhead with added versatility and flexible movement. It will also aid in cleaning the bathtub, feet, and other areas of the body because of the flexible movement. Also the tile and grout cleaning tip will let people have a high pressure stream with the option of pulses to clean grout without having to use harsh chemicals.